Pickens County

Book excerpt: A paradise of breathtaking waterfalls, flawless vistas, and picturesque lakes, Pickens County enjoys a remarkable natural beauty along the stream-laced foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The county, named for early settler and Revolutionary War hero Andrew Pickens, was once part of the Old Pendleton District, a portion of the Palmetto State that also included Anderson and Oconee Counties, and like much of the Upstate, echoes its Cherokee heritage through local names such as Lake Keowee and the Cateechee community. This volume, containing over 200 black-and-white images, provides readers a unique opportunity to step back into the Pickens County of yesteryear, a time remembered for clay main streets, horse-drawn buggies, railroads, and early textile mills, gristmills, and sawmills. Covering the county's towns, such as Easley, Pickens, Liberty, and Central, Pickens County recounts the intriguing stories of hardships and accomplishments of the area's pioneering families and descendants, who have continued to shape the county without destroying the area's natural environment.